Perceptions Of a person With Mental Retardation As a function Of Participation In

Special education schools in the Bedouin sector in the Negev

Locality	School Population	Number of Classes
Kseiifa	Medium and severe retardation	10 classes
Hura	Medium and severe retardation	8 classes
Rahat	Medium and severe retardation	14 classes

The table shows that as of 2005 there were no schools for Bedouin children with diverse special needs such as autism or children with behavioral disorders. Not only do insufficient suitable frameworks have implications for special education children, it is important to note that the development of children in frameworks that are unsuited to their needs may actually be harmful to them. Thus, for example, the shortage of settings for children with severe behavioral disturbances may result in their referral to psychiatric centers instead of receiving proper care in the community or in a suitable day care center.

Theme C: multi-disciplinary professional personnel

The unique characteristics of the special education school require a staff of professionals who are experts in their field. Thus the staff of special education schools in the Jewish sector for example, is multidisciplinary and comprised of experts from various fields: medical experts such as neurologists and psychiatrists; paramedical professionals such as speech therapists and physical and occupational therapists; experts from therapeutic fields such as psychologists, therapists and social workers; and education professionals, including school principals, special education teachers, vocational teachers and assistants. According to the Margalit Committee report (Mazawi 1997) only 30% of all special needs children in the Bedouin community in the Negev receive disability benefits to which they are entitled from the National Insurance Institute and enjoy paramedical services, compared to 73% of the children in the Jewish sector. In several spheres there is a significant shortage of professionals, mainly in paramedical professions, such as physical, occupational and speech therapists. This situation creates inequality in the availability of paramedical services and curriculums adapted to the Bedouin sector It is important to emphasize the fact that paramedical treatment constitutes a basic component of special education such that a shortage of professionals in these fields hinders care and development of special needs children. As a case in point: an insufficient number of qualified diagnosticians impedes necessary diagnostic activities, and due to a shortage of professionals in treatment fields the children do not receive physical/emotional/behavioral treatment. Furthermore, due to a scarcity of support personnel to assist the teaching staff, teachers face greater difficulties in the classroom. The following table (Table 4) lists the paramedical services available in the Bedouin special education field as of 2005.

Table 4

Types of paramedical services in special education available in the Bedouin sector for 2005.

Types of paramedical services	Locality
Speech therapists	3
Occupational therapists	1
Physical therapy	2
Art therapists	8

From: Abu-Ajaj (2005)

In order to illustrate the problem I chose to focus on one professional field: speech therapists. The speech therapist’s role is to diagnose and treat pupils with hearing, communication, language and speech difficulties. Speech therapists work in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team in the educational framework in accordance with the educational goals defined for each pupil. As part of the treatment process, the speech therapist provides counseling and guidance to the professional team and the parents to ensure that work on communication, language and hearing will be integrated into the pupil’s daily routine.

As shown in Table 4, speech therapy is one of the fields with the most significant shortage of professionals. In 1998, Professor Ornoy, advisor to the Minister of Health, told the Committee on the Status of the Child, that there was a shortage of 259 speech therapists in the Arab education system (Ornoy, 1998). This shortage has myriad ramifications resulting in impeded education, rehabilitation and development of special needs children. The scarcity of speech therapists in the Arab sector is especially significant as it hinders the integration of special needs children in the Arab sector into Arab society, since children treated by a speech therapist that is not a native Arabic speaker do not learn the language of the social environment in which they live.

The Ben-Peretz Committee recognized the shortage of professionals in the Arab special education system and recommended adding 50 professionals that will be trained to treat complex disabilities (The Ministry of Education, 1998). An extensive search conducted as part of the research did not produce documentation indicating implementation of this recommendation.

The homeroom teacher is the key professional in the special education system. Homeroom teachers working with special needs children fill numerous and varied roles. In light of their specific training these teachers are responsible for: diagnosing the child; conducting and providing an evaluation and profile of the child, the latter indicating the pupil’s strengths and weaknesses; preparing an Individual Education Plan (IEP) in collaboration with all professionals working with the child; treatment following completion of the diagnosis process and defining educational and treatment goals in accordance with the child’s specific needs. Treatment by the homeroom teachers in special education frameworks may be provided individually or in a group or class setting, and/or in combination with an additional professional, for example a speech therapist that joins the treatment session or the class in the aim of complementing the treatment and tracking the pupil’s progress. In addition to working with the pupils, homeroom teachers are the focal point for support personnel and parents, providing information and guidance concerning drilling and reinforcing the study material, and for expanding the educational team’s knowledge regarding necessary adjustments with the specific educational environment. The homeroom teacher also works with parents as part of the trend towards involving parents in determining appropriate intervention methods and deciding on specific goals and objectives, also providing guidance to parents in implementing the decisions and recommendations in the home. Homeroom teachers are also those responsible for coordinating between all entities working with the pupil in the educational framework for the purpose of transmitting information, coordinating approaches and formulating priorities. The professional responsibilities delineated above require homeroom teachers to receive broad and high-quality training in the special education field. Furthermore their strategic role highlights the need for highly competent homeroom teachers able to successfully fill their myriad roles in special education school system.

Table 5 presents data regarding the qualification of special education teachers who are, as described above, key figures in working with the children as well as parents and other team members (The Ministry of Education, 1999, p. 51). The shortage of qualified and certified special education teachers as revealed in Table 5 does not allow for effective and professional work with populations contending with complex developmental disabilities.